Cotton needs to be “hipper” to grow demand
20/10/2016
In a keynote presentation at the start of the International Cotton Association’s 2016 industry event in Liverpool on October 20, Mr Nicosia said cotton’s share of the global fibre market has fallen from 34% in 2000-2001 to 24% in 2016-2017.
He said: “For a long time the belief was that sophisticated consumers in the European Union and the US would continue to demand cotton in their clothes and that this would create a pull effect throughout the supply chain, but that has not happened. Apparel companies don’t make what consumers want; consumers have to choose from the apparel companies choose to make.”
Mr Nicosia explained that, in any case, a demand for clothes to be made from cotton does not exist among younger generations of consumers who have “grown up with synthetic fibres”. In response to a question from sportstextiles.com on how best to stimulate more demand for cotton, he said: “Our focus needs to be on the younger generation. We have a story to tell and we need to tell it on social media platforms; we need to expose that story to the right people.”
The International Cotton Association celebrated its 175th anniversary at the Liverpool 2016 event.
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